Letters to the Editor: Canada’s not a ‘fun-size version’ of the U.S. Stop comparing vaccination rates

To the editor: No one’s a bigger Canada lover than me. I went to graduate school there and have many Canadian friends who never tire of reminding me of what a colossal mess the U.S. is in at any given moment.

But Doyle McManus’ Aug. 1 column comparing Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine receptiveness to that of the U.S. leaves out a few important details.

While Canada tends to be less extreme politically than the United States, thank goodness, its population is only 38 million. The U.S. is is almost nine times that size and is markedly more diverse and densely populated. More people and more diversity add up to more disparate views and reasons for not getting vaccinated.

Canadians tend to trust their government because the vast majority of the population has fewer historical reasons to do otherwise. Consider the relationship that discrete groups have when it comes to mistrust of the government and how that translates to vaccination rates, a topic addressed in Erika D. Smith’s recent column on systemic racism affecting Black Americans’ eagerness to get vaccinated.

I’m a little tired of people comparing our two countries as if Canada were just a fun-size version of the United States. We have vastly different histories and populations.

Phoebe Millerwhite, Claremont

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To the editor: McManus’ column is an accurate and compelling description of Canadian know-how and a caring society.

As a senior citizen and snowbird traveler, I will certainly not be going to Florida this year, just as I didn’t go last season. Actions taken by members of the Republican Party and especially the governor of Florida are discouraging Canadians from traveling to the U.S., not only because of the fourth wave of COVID-19 but also because of security in your streets.

Once Canada offers a Caribbean island the chance to join as a province or territory — complete with government-funded healthcare and child care — even some Americans will be moving north.

Ron Mischook, Carp, Ontario, Canada